Introduction
I have had the privilege to work with an incredible nurse leader over the past two years. This particular nurse leader shares my passion for population health and case management for the support of patients in their homes and keeping patients safe and healthy. The purpose of this interview was to obtain further knowledge about the role desired by the interviewer. By attaining information from a practicing Master’s prepared nurse, the interviewer will develop a deeper understanding of the career advancement and potential opportunities that are available in the local community.
Overview of Career
K. T. is currently working in the Mercy Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in Des Moines, located in central Iowa. K. T. started her nursing career in the 1970’s when she initially pursued her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at the University of Iowa. K. T. expressed that the only reason that she obtained her BSN at that time was since she wanted
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to become a nurse, but her father told her that she had to go to college. K. .T. recalls that after she had graduated, she got married and moved to Harrisburg, where she took a job at the local hospital in the oncology department. She recollects that during her time at this local hospital the head nurse of the unit actively encouraged the staff to continue their education. K. T. remembers that she had applied for four different staff development positions while working at this hospital; finally, she got the position. During her time in the staff development position, she began work on her Master’s degree in Nursing (MSN). Although her time at the University of Maryland was short lived due to moving back to Iowa for personal reasons. Graduate Education When K. T. moved back to Iowa, she took a staff nurse position at Mercy in Des Moines. K. T. recalls that the University of Iowa and Mercy were working on a pilot study to help nurses to be able to continue to work while furthering their education. K. T. remembers that the nurses at the hospital had to apply for one of the twenty-five spots in the cohort and complete an entrance interview before being accepted into the program. The MSN program was a general program that included a little bit of everything from finance to leadership, as well as advanced assessment skills. However, the concept of case management or population health was not around at that time. The program was similar to the hybrid programs that we see today – with some in-person classes and the rest of the classes online. She remembers having teams, group work, and discussion forums as well. After two years K. T. earned her MSN from the cohort study group. Present Position Currently, she is working as the ACO Director of Quality and Care Management.
K. T. states that she enjoys this role as it is forever evolving. When she initially took the position, the ACO was only in Des Moines, and now she is the ACO Director of Quality for the entire state of Iowa. K. T. expresses that her graduate program and education have been helpful in being a successful leader within the organization. During her graduate program, K.T. reports that she truly learned how to be flexible, how to delegate, and work effectively in teams to complete the tasks that seemed impossible. She also expressed that her graduate studies have assisted her in managing quality and reducing the overall health care cost for throughout the ACO. Since her MSN was a general degree without a specialization, she reports that she gained valuable skills during the program that helped her to be successful, such as the portions of the program that worked on human resources helped her when she was to start hiring and firing
employees. Pearls of Wisdom K.T. left this writer with many pearls of wisdom in becoming a successful nurse leader. The first was always to work in a team format, as this will help you not only to be able to manage your school work but it also gives you practice when you are in a management position to delegate to others. With all things there must be a balance, continue to pursue educational opportunities and gain as much knowledge and experience as you can, but remember that family and friends are critical and time is short. Finally, keep in contact with the excellent professors that you will meet even after graduation, as you can share your experiences with them and vise versa to continue learning. Conclusion Through completing the interview with K. T., this writer has learned more about what it takes to be successful as a future leader in health care as it continues to evolve by using the skills offered in the MSN program at Grand Canyon University (GCU). Several competencies were brought up during the interview that are consistent with the MSN program with an emphasis in Leadership in Health Care Systems program that is offered by GCU. These competencies include learning how to effectively lead others, managing quality, health care costs, and communication skills ("GCU," 2015). By using the graduate education that is available, this writer will have the opportunity to take positions that are similar to K.T., helping to lead the change in health care by increasing the quality of care that patients receive and decreasing the cost to create a sustainable health care system.
Murphy J, Quillinan B, Carolan M. "Role of clinical nurse leadership in improving patient care." Nurs Manage 16, no. 8 (2012): 26-28.
Laureate Education, I. (Producer). (2010). Intro to healthcare delivery part I [DVD]. In The nurse leader: New perspectives on the profession.Baltimore, MD
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Sherman, R. & Pross, E. (2010). Growing future nurse leaders to build and sustain healthy work
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